This post is intended to help pass on details already being publicised by the Melbourne Jazz Co-operative, about a benefit concert for revered saxophonist Bernie McGann, who is recovering from illness in Sydney and needs our support. The gig is being held at Bennetts Lane Jazz Club on September 1 in conjunction with a silent auction. The word is that a similar benefit concert in Sydney recently raised about $11,000, so Melbourne has a job ahead if we are to hold out heads high.

BIDDING FOR THE SILENT AUCTION IS NOW LIVE

Bidding is now open for Prizes donated for the Silent Auction in the Bernie McGann Benefit.

Bidding in the silent auction being held in conunction with the Bernie McGann Benefit Concert in Melbourne is now open. To make an online bid, send an email to the MJC at melbournejazzcooperative@gmail.com with the subject “McGann Silent Auction” and your full name, the item number and your bid in the body of the email. Live bids can also be made at the event on Sunday night until 9:30pm. Winners will be notified at the close of the event (if at the venue) and via email on the evening of September 2nd.

ITEM 1: Melbourne Jazz Festival’s Golden Pass (value $1,000),
– 2 tickets to the Gala Opening
– 2 tickets to a Modern Masters of Jazz
– 2 tickers to a Explorations in Jazz show
– 2 tickets to a Club Session
– Priority entry into The Cave (MIJF late night program)
– Reserved seating at the MIJF Masterclass Series
– Reserved seating at the MIJF In Conversation Series

The value of this Golden Pass is worth over $1,000 in tickets and services.
The shows chosen in the above pass will be up to the discretion of MIJF

ITEM 3: Gold Pass for this year’s Wangaratta Festival of Jazz & Blues (value $350)
The Gold Pass provides entry to all venues from Friday to Monday night PLUS: VIP seating at all WPAC shows, the Festival Launch Cocktail Party at the Gateway on Friday evening and the Cup Eve Concert on the Monday night.

Both Rufus Records (Bernie’s main label) and JazzHead will be selling stock on the night, with a good percentage of profits going to Bernie.

Copies of all 10 McGann albums on Rufus Records (including Ugly Beauty, McGann McGann, Bundeena, Live at Side On, Playground, Kindred Spirits, Wending, Double Dutch, Solar, Blues for Pablo Too) will be on sale at the special price of $20 each at the Benefit.

Additional copies of the Australian Jazz Real Book will also be sold for $100 each), as well as some other CDs and LPs by local artists.

This is one of my favourite pictures of Bernie McGann. I have plenty of others in which he is blowing up a storm, his brow covered in sweat, or gently transporting us with a ballad. But this picture shows Bernie seated, as is his habit, listening while other members of the band carry the piece forward. He is at ease, yet engrossed.

The picture was taken in June 2012 at a Bennetts Lane gig for the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. On the night, and in the review, I got carried away with what Bernie gave us, along with Marc Hannaford, Phillip Rex and Dave Beck.

This post is intended to help pass on details already being publicised by the Melbourne Jazz Co-operative, about a benefit concert being held at Bennetts Lane Jazz Club on September 1, so that the word gets out to as many people as possible. Bernie is recovering from illness and needs our support.

Allan Browne (drums), Phil Rex (bass) and Phil Noy (alto sax) will open the concert by playing some of Bernie’s tunes (as will Julien Wilson and Boplicity).

More prizes for the raffle and auction include a collection of five CD albums by Julian Wilson’s groups (Festa, Trio, Assumptions), and five copies of Stephen Magnusson’s Bell-winning Magnet LP.

Prizes donated for the Silent Raffle now include a Melbourne Jazz Festival’s Golden Pass (value $1,000), four copies of the Australian Jazz Real Book donated by editor Dr Tim Nikolsky (value $100 each), and a JazzHead CD pack (in addition to the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz & Blues, which is donating a Gold Pass for this year’s festival to both benefit concerts in Melbourne and Sydney : value $350 each).

Both Rufus Records (Bernie’s main label) and JazzHead will be selling stock on the night, with a good percentage of profits going to Bernie.
We also hope to have some copies of the hard-to-find 1997 book Bernie McGann A life in Jazz by poet Geoff Page, as well as some photographs by Bruce Hart (who now resides in Canada).

Tax-deductible donations can be made via S.I.M.A. (just ask for details).

12. MANY OTHER FANTASTIC PERFORMERS

Ausjazz blog has not exhausted the myriad reasons why you should not miss the opportunity to be at all or part of Wangaratta Jazz and Blues Festival this year, but a dozen is clearly not enough, so I’ve grouped a few who absolutely deserve a mention.

Friday, November 2 at 10pm, WPAC Theatre: Paul Grabowsky and Bernie McGann will perform jazz standards and original compositions in a quartet with bassist Jonathan Zwartz and on drums 2011 National Jazz Awards winner Tim Firth.

Friday, November 2 at 9:45pm, WPAC Memorial Hall:Marc Hannaford with his trio with talented young bassist Sam Pankhust and drummer James McLean, as heard on Marc’s CD Sarcophile.

Saturday, November 3 at noon Holy Trinity Cathedral: Doug De Vries with bassist Frank Di Sario and drummer/percussionist Alastair Kerr will be playing Brazilian music.

Sunday, November 4 at 12:30pm WPAC Memorial Hall: Tim Stevens will also play in his trio with Ben Robertson on bass and Dave Beck on drums.

Saturday, November 3 at 2:30pm WPAC Memorial Hall: Allan Browne will lead his trio with Marc Hannaford and Sam Anning.
Sunday, November 4 at 6pm, St Patrick’s Hall: Bob Barnard and Warwick Alder on trumpets.
Saturday, November 3 at 8pm, St Patrick’s Hall: Hobart pianist Tom Vincent playing Wangaratta for the first time, joined by Sam Anning (bass) and Danny Fischer (drums).

Sunday, November 4 at 8pm, St Patrick’s Hall: Eminent pianist Tony Gould will feature in a quartet with Rob Burke on saxophone, Nick Haywood on bass and Tony Floyd on drums, as well as in the trio (Sunday, November 4 at 2pm, Holy Trinity Cathedral) he co-leads with Imogen Manins on cello and Gianni Marinucci on flugelhorn and trumpet.

Saturday, November 3 at 12:30pm, WPAC Memorial Hall: Sydney bassist/composer Hannah James, a graduate from the ANU School of Music in Canberra, will play in a trio with two members of her quintet, Casey Golden on piano and Ed Rodrigues on drums. Phil Slater on trumpet will be a guest soloist.

Monday, November 5, 1pm, WPAC: Youth jazz showcase concert added to the program on Monday afternoon. It’s separately ticketed, but covered by a festival pass. Generations in Jazz Academy Big Band from Mt Gambier directed by Graeme Lyall; the Monash University Big Band directed by Jordan Murray; and the National Youth Jazz Academy band, with young students aged 18 to 19, based in Wangaratta. This includes a trumpet player aged 13 who is precociously talented.

Take two groups of musicians, add Paul Grabowsky and stir. The result is bound to be interesting.

In this case, Grabowsky as Musical Director has gathered six students from the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and teamed them with seven members of the renowned Australian Art Orchestra to form Shapeshifter — “a dynamic new ensemble of 21st Century musicians”.

Shapeshifter: (from left) O’Connor, Mamrot, Rex, Klas and Beck

In the first set, the ensemble played Variations (2001), based on a melody from the Suite du’n Goût Étranger (Suite in a Foreign Style) by 17th Century viola-da-gamba virtuoso Marin Marais. As Grabowsky explained, the piece puts the melody through a series of costume changes, each paying homage to composers past and present: Ennio Morricone, Lennie Tristano, Cecil Taylor, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, J.S. Bach and Olivier Messiaen.

Shapeshifter: (from left) Hicks, Toohey and Davidson

Described in publicity material as “a kind of chamber concerto showing off the virtuosity of the players”, Variations would probably send a shock wave or two through any audience used to classical chamber music. Opening with pre-recorded music over which trumpeter Eugene Ball introduced squeals, whistles, growls and farts, the piece was often frenetic and often displayed dissonance or even discordancy.

Onslaughts: Philip Rex

Philip Rex on bass, with and without bow, helped mightily in the onslaughts, assisted by the superb Dave Beck on drums and percussionist Shanie Klas beating a small tin as if her life depended on its bell-like sound. A dirge of saxes was overlaid by upper register horns from Scott Tinkler and Ball.

Shapeshifter: (from left) Hicks, Toohey and O’Connor

Joe O’Connor (keyboards) delivered some fierce runs, the notes well dug into the ivories. Brendan Toohey on bass clarinet added to the chatter of saxes in some bursts of AHBL (all hell breaking loose). James Macaulay‘s trombone worked well with Beck’s ‘plosive’ attacks and Dan Mamrot on guitar added significantly to what was a rich repertoire of timbres.

Variations was amazing, though I am sure I did not catch anything like all of its allusions of homage to composers. I would have to say it left me more marvelling than moved, but there was more to come from Shapeshifter after the break.

Horny: Tony Hicks solos with Shapeshifter

The second set opened with Tall Tales, a three-movement suite Grabowsky wrote in honour of filmmaker Fred Schepisi on the occasion of his 70th birthday. The first movement, Ngukurr Mon Amour, is based on the structure of manikay, the traditional song cycle form of the Yolngu peoples of Arnhem Land. The second, …and a bier for young Arnie is informed by the music of the young Arnold Schoenberg, and includes a miniature alto saxophone concerto. The third movement is entitled Wacky, Zany, Madcap.

Shapeshifter at work

This piece quickly had me convinced it would be the standout of the night. From the first movement, which opened with Welsh’s violin acting as a drone to Rex’s vigorous bass, it was compelling, energy-filled and intense. To me, this was a better showcase for the ensemble than Variations, especially as epitomised in the work of Tinkler, Tony Hicks on tenor sax over the rhythms of Rex and Beck, Lachlan Davidson‘s alto saxophone when fired up, Macaulay’s classy ‘bone, which had Grabowsky clapping, and in some brass salvos fired as if by instruments of war.

Zestful: Paul Grabowsky

Grabowsky as conductor was lively, active, perky, vibrant, vital, zestful, not to mention eager, zealous and spirited. His hands darted into the air as he urged the players onwards and upwards to new heights, demonstrating the drive that will no doubt propel Shapeshifter as it develops and explores new material.

Serious business: Scott Tinkler

Unexpectedly, it was the closing composition, Grabowsky’s Tailfin, which left the strongest impression in this outing. This was a new arrangement of a piece composed in 1992 and released on the albums Viva Viva (1993) and Tales of Time and Space (2004). I was struck by the different feel of the piece in the hands of Shapeshifter — compared to the Time and Space version it was more weighty, with more depth and guts.

Beck led us into it with a long introduction effectively using brushes over the slow thump of the bass drum. When Tinkler got to the serious business of the key solo he drew applause and a call from Grabowsky to “play that again”.

Another place: Welsh and Tinkler

The other horns painted a slow, solemn picture behind Tinkler, before Welsh’s violin took us to another, primal place in tandem with Mamrot on guitar. O’Connor on piano released the tension, making way for Toohey to usher in some twists and turns against the backdrop of Rex, O’Connor and Beck.

This rendition of Tailfin was still spinning in my head long after I left the venue in a mad dash for the train. It remains the standout for me in an outing that showed Shapeshifter to be no mere will o’ the wisp.

Yes, it hasn’t happened yet, but there are already pictures circulating.

In a few hours, at 6.30pm on Saturday, October 6, 2012, Uptown Jazz Cafe will host a Lynch mob as guitarists Steve Magnusson and Ren Walters present a creative project which has been 12 months in the planning. With two musicians of such talent at work, the audience is guaranteed of twin peaks in this performance.

These fascinating and free guitarists will play acoustic guitars, with effects pedals, as selected images are screened of Eraserhead, David Lynch‘s seminal 1977 surrealist masterpiece. Uptown is the ideal venue for this adventurous outing.

Magnusson is ubiquitous these days. He played at Bennetts Lane Jazz Club on Thursday with Nick Haywood, Colin Hopkins and Allan Browne (it was a hoot), then joined Frank Di Sario and Dave Beck at Uptown on Friday night (sorry I missed this).

Cost: $15/10

And moving from the surreal to the sublime, Uptown follows at 9pm with the Paul Williamson Quartet, with this Williamson on trumpet, birthday boy Marc Hannaford on piano, Sam Pankhurst on double bass and Tony Floyd on drums (very sorry I can’t make this).

Ausjazz blog picks some highlights from the 2012 Melbourne International Jazz Festival:

A festival highlight: Haaken Mjasset Johansen with Motif from Norway.

All up, Ausjazz went to all or part of 15 MIJF gigs this year. This is an attempt to pick out some highlights, though there will be posts about individual concerts when time permits. A few explanatory notes: First, I chose not to review the Opening Gala: The Way You Look Tonight or the final evening’s Dee Dee Bridgewater Sings, because those concerts were not my cup of tea. That is not any reflection on the musicians involved.

Second, for reasons beyond my control I could not make any gigs from Monday, June 4 to Wednesday, June 6 inclusive. Again, that had nothing to do with the calibre of the music on offer. Third, I did not make it to any of the master classes, though I have heard from many who did that these were definite highlights.

Of the concerts I attended, there were none that I did not enjoy — perhaps I am easily pleased, but I believe this festival followed the usual rule by delivering more delights than may have been anticipated upon first glance at the program. It was not too adventurous — certainly not as “out there” as recent years under the direction of Sophie Brous. I did miss that aspect. The most experimental outings were Peter Knight‘s Fish Boast of Fishing and Andrea Keller‘s work with Genevieve Lacey and Joe Talia — both at the Melbourne Recital Centre’s Salon and both involving Australian artists. From overseas, the Robert Glasper Experiment strayed from the conventional, as did the Norwegian quintet Motif, but the latter was the standout of these two for me.

Before I discuss highlights, it’s probably worth exploring the value or otherwise of reviews. Unlike reviews of opening night stage productions, with MIJF commentary there is in most cases no season ahead in which potential punters can decide to go or not go on the basis of what’s written. Most concerts are unrepeated or already sold out before reviews hit the airwaves, streets or online haunts. I see reviews as one way to build an archive or record of what a festival has succeeded in delivering. That record may provide some context to those who attended various concerts or merely arouse the interest of readers who may seek out that music in some form later, possibly even live if the artist or band returns.

So, in consecutive order by date rather than any (futile) rating, my highlights were as follows: I found Bernie McGann‘s quartet at Bennetts Lane on the opening Friday night deeply satisfying, not only because of McGann’s saxophone work, but because of what the other players in the band — Marc Hannaford, Phillip Rex and Dave Beck — contributed.

On the following night, at the same venue, Murphy’s Law impressed with Tamara Murphy‘s suite “Big Creatures Little Creatures”. At The Forum later that evening, the Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra showed its class with visiting saxophonist Chris Potter, but the standouts for me were the Andy Fiddes composition Gathering Momentum, some trumpet excellence from Phil Slater in the third piece (the name of which I did not catch) and Potter’s darker sax in the encore Rumination. Later still, back at Bennetts Lane, the Eli Degibri Quartet from Israel had a smooth fluidity and swing that definitely had me wanting more, especially from the 16-year-old pianist Gadi Lehavri.

What can I say about McCoy Tyner‘s concert on Sunday in the Melbourne Town Hall? The only basis I have for comparing the pianist now with his illustrious past playing is via recordings, and on that basis he is not quite in that league now. And I think Jose James could not act as a substitute for Johnny Hartman. I enjoyed the outing, and I don’t see much point in comparisons when you have a chance to hear a musician of Tyner’s stature. But this was not a festival highlight for me.

By contrast, Terence Blanchard‘s quintet on Thursday at Melbourne Recital Centre was a real standout. It’s definitely no criticism of Rob Burke, Tony Gould, Tony Floyd and Nick Haywood, who opened this gig, but I did think as Blanchard’s band opened with Derrick’s Choice that a band with a local trumpeter such as Scott Tinkler or Phil Slater would have been ideal.

In the quintet’s set I would have been satisfied just to hear Fabian Almazan‘s contribution on piano, but Blanchard’s playing was inventive, fluid and piercingly penetrating, with sampled audio from Dr Cornel West and some echo among the special effects. Blanchard’s tone did not really dig into the guttural until shortly before the inevitable encore and his sound was not as fat as I’d expected. Brice Winston on tenor sax was superb in the Almazan piece Pet Step Sitter’s Theme.

In terms of musicianship, Renaud Garcia-Fons on bass with the Arcoluz Trio at the MRC on Friday night stood out. I’d regretted having to miss the solo bass gig at Bennetts Lane mid week, but in a way this trio concert was a vehicle for Garcia-Fons to show his amazing talents. On his five-stringed instrument Garcia-Fons uses a range of techniques with and without bow, recalling Barre Phillips‘ solo performance at Wangaratta Jazz last year, but it’s a totally different experience. I could only marvel at Garcia-Fons’s skill, but, by contrast with Phillips, his music lacked the tension and resolution (or lack of it) that is so compelling in jazz improvisation. Also, I would have liked to hear more from Kiko Rulz on flamenco guitar, who in brief bursts only whetted my appetite to hear more. I could not help but wish that Pascal Rollando on percussion would contribute more fire and inventiveness. That said, this concert was a highlight.

Even more so was Dr Lonnie Smith in his trio with Jonathan Kreisberg on guitar and Jamire Williams on drums at Bennetts Lane late on Friday. I love the Hammond B3 and Smith was enjoying every moment of his time on Tim Neal‘s beautiful instrument. This was a therapeutic experience and just what the Doctor ordered for me. Kreisberg’s playing was exciting and intense, and the organ was just a thrill and a joy to hear. The notes from a Hammond can be felt deep in the body and seem to free the spirit. I’ll be hanging out for Smith’s new album, Healer, due in a few weeks. But an album is not the same as being there and feeling the B3 vibrations at close quarters.

OK, I’m waxing too lyrical. On the second Saturday of the festival I made it to four gigs. Peter Knight and his ensemble’s Fish Boast of Fishing at the Salon, MRC, took me out of my comfort zone and into an emerging, growing, developing experience in which I felt there was a contradiction of sorts. There was definitely tension. There was complexity and coordination in the way sounds were produced, but when I closed my eyes the experience was of something organic, almost living and breathing. Perhaps that was the point.

Norwegian band Motif

Next came another real highlight for me and I would have missed it if I had not had a recommendation from ABC presenter Jessica Nicholas. The Norwegian outfit Motif was a standout. I always think European bands can be counted on to bring something significantly different to their music and Motif was no exception. This was intelligent, quirky and engrossing jazz, with extreme variations in dynamics and pretty well anything you could imagine. There was ferocity and solemnity. There was pandemonium and space. What a hoot! This was the night’s highlight. There was another great set to follow I’m sure. It was hard to leave.

But Tarbaby at the Comedy Theatre — with Oliver Lake on alto sax, Eric Revis on bass, Orrin Evans on piano and Nasheet Waits on drums — served up a set of take-no-prisoners hard-driving jazz. This was a top rhythm section that took me full circle back to the Bernie McGann concert at the festival’s start. Apart from Lake’s robust playing, what I loved most was Evans’s command of the piano in Paul Motian‘s Abacus. This set would have topped the night for me, but I still had Motif ringing in my consciousness and I wasn’t letting that go in a hurry.

I did queue up for a long, cold wait to hear some of the Robert Glasper Experiment, but it was too hi-tech for me. I just wanted to chill and listen to Glasper on piano, but the crowd at Bennetts Lane was all fired up. They probably had a highlight at this outing, but not me.

On Sunday, the final night, I caught the first set of Sandy Evans with Toby Hall and Lloyd Swanton. It was the perfect wind-down.

All in all, there was plenty to get excited about in the MIJF 2012. The crowds were out listening to live music and many venues seemed to be full.

Next year? Well, maybe a few more European bands and a little more experimentation. But, after all, there is the Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival for that.

For reasons I don’t need to go into here I have been attending some career transition courses at work. One tip the instructor gave — and this has nothing whatsoever to do with this MIJF gig — is that before looking for a job it is vital to remove all images of yourself from social media such as Facebook, because prospective employers may check your profile, take one look and decide “he’s too old” or “I can’t stand bald people” or some such. Interesting. But I digress. What is slightly connected to this review is that the instructor also warned that in job interviews it is important to avoid waffle. Well, I can feel some waffle coming on. Be warned.

To be honest, I suspect I’m tempted to indulge in palaver because I don’t have that much to say. How can that be, with players such as Jamie Oehlers and US bassist Robert Hurst performing in an intimate venue such as Bennetts Lane? I love Oehlers’ work and have waxed lyrical about it, especially with Paul Grabowsky and Dave Beck in the exciting and totally improvised playing of Lost and Found.

Jamie Oehlers

Well, the mundane realities were that this was my third gig for the night, that I’d just been blown away by Bernie McGann‘s two sets and that I had to miss the second set by the Oehlers quartet in order to make the last train home. Also, I was not really in the mood for the onslaught of sax power that Oehlers unleashed. My bad. Somehow, like a wave that you don’t quite catch, it came at me but failed to pick me up and carry me in.

Others loved this outing. I can quote respected jazz writer Andra Jackson, herself a saxophonist, who commented on this gig via social media in these words: “PHEN-omenal unofficial opening gig for the Melbourne International Jazz Festival last night from saxophonist Jamie Oehlers. Can it get much better than that! Such seamless playing on Aisha. And in one extended passage he even sounded like he was playing two instruments, playing an insistent riff and bringing in a melody over it.”

And, according to Andra, saxophonist George Garzone was at Bennetts and said he’d never heard Oehlers in better form.

Jacob Evans

I was not familiar with Hurst, but his website mentions that he featured on 12 tracks from Paul McCartney‘s Kisses on the Bottom and on Chris Botti‘s Impressions, and toured the US with Diana Krall this year. His
Unrehurst Vol 2 and Bob Ya Head were critics’ picks for best albums of 2011.

In the first set at Bennetts, the quartet began with the energetic Hurst original Tiger’s on Venus, which was hard-driving stuff throughout. I felt Hurst’s work was exemplary and virtuosic, but lacked the warmth of a player like Charlie Hayden.

Hurst & Oehlers

Next up was McCoy Tyner‘s Ballad for Aisha. Oehlers was doubly impressive in this, playing two very different solos during the piece — one intense and the other relatively laid back. Jacob Evans used his hands effectively on the skins. Hurst’s solo had space and dignity.

Jamie Oehlers

The final piece for the set was Hurst’s original Aycrigg, I think named for a street in which he once lived. This was a return to the faster pace and vigour of the opening and certainly gave us a chance to see Hurst’s nimble fingers at work at an incredible speed. If Tim Davies impressed with his drumming speed at Stonnington Jazz, Hurst certainly demonstrated his skill at speed on the bass.

Tal Cohen

I suspect that the second set delighted those in the audience who were up for a hard-driving quartet in the mood to take no prisoners.

On the last train home, my strongest memories were of Bernie McGann standing almost unmoving on stage as his playing moved us.